Lakewood, NJ - Vaad To Be Guided by Town Rabbis

Lakewood, NJ - The Vaad, an influential council of Orthodox Jewish leaders, will be restructured to better respond to the concerns of the township's fast-growing Orthodox community, the organization announced in a letter to Orthodox residents.

A council of rabbis is to be formed for the purpose of giving guidance to the 11-member Vaad, which issues political endorsements and takes positions on various civic matters.
"It is the intent . . . to place the Vaad under the guidance of the Ichud Rabbonim and through that to ensure that the needs of the entire Kehilla (community) are appropriately met," the letter stated.

The announcement of the Vaad's restructuring was included in a letter in which the Vaad also made its election endorsements for the municipal, House and U.S. Senate races. "We sincerely recognize that the Vaad . . . must adapt in order to better represent the needs of a growing and diverse (religious community)," the letter stated.